General Debate

I move, That the House take note of miscellaneous business. I think that we need to reclaim the word “great”. We need to reclaim it from those who would use it like a weapon and reclaim it from those who hark back to a past that never existed and who seek to use it for the 1 percent and not for everybody. New Zealand is truly a great place to live, and it is great because of the people who live here. But we do need to keep it that way and to lift it higher. We need to give a voice to the voiceless. We need to look after everyone.

I want to tell the story of Justin Duckworth, who is the current Bishop of Wellington. He started out looking after street people and fostering teenage girls. He set up a community of young people in Wellington who are on the edges of society, creating a community to look after each other and to include people. He decided that more people were needed, especially given the mental health situation here, so he raised money and bought some land up the Kāpiti coast to give street people a home, a place to live, and a place to be included. He was elected bishop in order to lead a similar change in the wider Church. That is greatness.

We are great when we seek to include, not exclude. New Zealanders are great because we expect more of our Government than what we are getting. We expect a Government that does not seek to kick things down until 2040 or 2050 but actually faces the huge challenges that we are facing today. We are not satisfied with a Government that wants to have tax cuts for those who are better off, at the expense of core public services and creating an inclusive society and a sustainable economy, that cuts health and education but ignores climate change, and that ignores the poor and the state of our waterways.

We are great because we care for each other and because we want the best for each other. We are great when everyone is able to afford a safe and a warm home, whether they rent or they own. We are great when we choose to lead the world and to face up to the challenges of our time, like climate change. We are great when we can safely swim in our rivers, or when we can trust the water that comes out of our tap. We are great when we can trust our Government to be transparent and to be accountable and to be responsible to the voters who put it there. That is the country that we are looking for.

New Zealand is a great country, and we want it to continue to be great, for our children and for our grandchildren. It worries me that this year there is the possibility that we can make a choice like that which has been made by other countries around the world, to go down the path of populism and nationalism and misogyny, and that we cannot afford. We cannot allow that to have any part in our political discourse. That is when we are not at our greatest. And that is what I hope that this year will be all about; we are great because we love to include. We love our children, we love our grandchildren, and we want to maintain this country the way that it is, with what that promise of greatness is. Thank you.

After a speech like that, no wonder Labour is starting to cut the Greens’ lunch. The statistics were out last week. They are done by Statistics New Zealand. Sometimes they are up, sometimes they are down, but what they show quite clearly in regional New Zealand, all around the country, is that we are growing and we are going well as a country. Out of the 15 regions in New Zealand, 12 have had really good—actually, I would argue strong—GDP growth in the last year. The Bay of Plenty, where I hail from—7.7 percent growth. That is remarkable, on the back of a productive sector with a huge amount of services work. There is kiwifruit, which I know, Mr Speaker, you know a bit about from past careers. In Auckland there was 6 percent regional GDP growth. Otago had 4.8 percent regional GDP growth. And there were others—actually, quite a number of others—at 3-plus percent growth. Whether it is Northland, Mr Peters; whether it is Waikato; or whether it is, Mr McKelvie, Manawatū-Wanganui, and that is not just your farming empire, Mr McKelvie, that has created that growth; or whether it is Canterbury, we have had very strong regional growth in this country—a national increase of some 4.1 percent.

In fact, if you think about the last 5 years in this country, despite the global financial crisis, despite the global economic conditions, despite earthquakes, despite droughts, and actually despite floods—I was almost going to say pestilence—and despite commodity price fluctuations, we have had strongly growing regions in this country, and that is a fantastic thing to see. Despite what nature has thrown us as a country, despite what global conditions have thrown us, we have had strong regions in this country. We should not take that for granted, actually.

Can I thank New Zealanders all around this country who have got up, who have had a go, who have had innovation, who have been productive in what they have done. They deserve the credit for the growth of this country in recent years, but what is also true is that there has been strong economic leadership from the leaders of the Government. I single out, in particular, Bill English, our former Minister of Finance and now the Prime Minister of New Zealand. He has balanced our books. He has ensured, with the sectors of New Zealand, that we have a more competitive, productive economy. Contrast that with overseas. Contrast that with what we have seen in America, where the so-called rust belt—actually, parts of that have gone backwards, regionally speaking. In the UK, not entirely, but some parts of the North have gone backwards.

Here we have got growing regional economies all over New Zealand. We have got a diversifying economy. Agriculture and primary production has been and continues to be a really strong part of our country and our GDP. But, of course, services have really come up to take their load, whether it is tourism, whether it is international education, or whether it is other areas, as well. And ICT being the third biggest export for New Zealand today just shows that, actually, it is an increasingly sophisticated economy that we have, as well—along with niche manufacturing and many other areas. We have had unprecedented infrastructure investment. We are building a more resilient economy, and, of course, all of this—the growing economy, all that we are doing, the resilience we are building in—means that whether it is Canterbury or whether it is Kaikōura, the leadership of New Zealanders—the leadership by Bill English—means that we are able to cope with those things that are thrown at us.

And it has been inclusive growth, spread geographically throughout New Zealand. Even the bottom three, can I say—we take the West Coast, Southland, and Taranaki, three regions that were down a bit on the last figures. They are traditionally our strongest economies, hit by commodity prices in the last year, but still strong, still resilient, and diversifying their economies, and the Government has plans in those areas. Of course, all of this—the regional GDP, the growth that we are seeing around New Zealand—is not just for the sake of it. It is not just so that we can talk about the numbers. What it means is more real jobs, just like Anne Tolley was talking about with Project 1000 and just like we are seeing with Growing Regional Opportunities through Work (GROW) Kaikohe, another Government initiative up in the North. It means higher incomes across New Zealand. Just as we are getting that, the resilience and so on, there—

The member’s time has expired.

The Māori Party claims to be the independent voice for Māori, but its voting record and its policy priorities are nothing but a sham. The Māori Party is showing that its true agenda is one of privatisation, empowering corporate elite, and cutting secret deals with its National mates behind closed doors. We have seen all of this. It voted to sell off State houses, it cut a dodgy deal with National over the despised Resource Management Act (RMA) reforms, and it is driving through unwanted Māori land reforms in the face of massive opposition.

Meanwhile, on urgent, critical issues facing Māori, like a lack of emergency, social, and affordable housing, we get what? Silence. When the emergency housing blowout scandal dominated headlines a month ago we got silence. We waited an entire week for either Te Ururoa Flavell, our Minister for Māori Development, or Marama Fox to come out and rage against the injustice of Māori whānau and thousands being moved from cramped motel to cramped motel, but all we got was silence. They came to be the independent voice, but silence is all the Māori Party has to offer our people on critical issues that really matter, like having a safe, dry, and warm home; like having a sustainable job; like workers’ rights; and like access to affordable and quality healthcare.

The housing crisis disproportionately affects Māori, and it should be a key priority kaupapa for the Minister for Māori Development. It is his job to lead public policy for Māori and to provide guidance to the Government about policies affecting Māori well-being. The only comments on housing that you will get from the Minister is when he can promote a papakāinga project as evidence that Māori are finding our own solutions to housing. Papakāinga is a hugely positive and worthwhile initiative—started under Labour, I might add—but it is a drop in the ocean.

Where is the leadership from Te Ururoa Flavell? Where is the leadership to speak up for whānau sleeping in cars, garages, and cramped motel units? Where is he? Hundreds of years of institutional knowledge is getting gutted out of the Māori Land Court. I will tell you where he is; he is pushing through Te Ture Whenua reforms that are massively unpopular and unwanted by Māori land owners, Māori legal experts, academics, institutes, and leaders. Where is the leadership, Mr Flavell? Mr Te Ururoa Flavell’s and Marama Fox’s silence on the issues that really matter to Māori is really an admission that they have no influence on this Government where it counts. And when they are called out and held to account, they say criticism is either playing politics, or even lies. That is not debate; that is lazy analysis and an attempt to shut down debate.

The Māori Party has sold out on the RMA reforms. Nobody wants this bill and it is only the two votes from the Māori Party that will get it over the line. They cut a secret deal outside of the select committee process to ensure National and Nick Smith will pass this bill. The concessions that it has gained for iwi participation is nothing compared with what it has put at risk. Iwi and hapū already have 123 co-governance arrangements with local authorities in New Zealand—83 percent of local authorities already have some kind of arrangement with Māori, either through memorandums of understanding, advisory boards, or joint committees. The Māori Party is missing the big picture on National’s Resource Management Act reforms by supporting a fundamentally flawed bill.

Now more than ever a vote for the Māori Party is a vote for National. Voters were coming back to Labour last election because they know we can provide the stable leadership and support they need. They know we are going to build 100,000 affordable homes, 6,000 more emergency beds, and pump more funding into healthcare. We are going to invest in resources to grow jobs and we going to invest in our classrooms where the need is wanted. Our Māori MPs in Labour are united and valued, and we are listening to our people. Kia ora tātau.

I have to say there is nothing more unedifying in this House then seeing Māori attack other Māori. [Interruption] And I have to say—[Interruption] I have to say that that member is running scared because the Māori Party is giving leadership to our iwi up and down the country, and that member, Meka Whaitiri, should be very afraid for Ikaroa-Rāwhiti.

It is not often that I get to stand in the House—[Interruption]

💬 Mr SPEAKER: Order! [Interruption] Order! I cannot hear the speaker.

I am really keen today to talk about some fantastic stuff that is happening in Tai Rāwhiti, backed, I have to say, by hard work from our Minister for Māori Development, the Hon Te Ururoa Flavell. I am very proud of the work that this Government is doing, working hand in hand on economic development for our regions.

Several of my Cabinet colleagues—in fact, there were five of us—stood in the Gisborne Memorial Hall recently to launch the Tai Rāwhiti economic action plan. This plan was not one where we sailed in, made a big announcement, and sailed out again. This is one that we have been working on with businesses, with iwi, with local government on the ground—talking about the things that they need the Government to support, that they want to do, and that they need Government support for. This was a locally focused plan that was driven by local businesses, and that is the difference between this side of the House and the other side of the House, which believes that just by popping into Gisborne every now and then, and promising a bit of money, they are going to get their votes. Well, actually, Gisborne people are much more intelligent than that. They are much more intelligent, because they know what they want.

They launched two plans that day—one, by iwi who have a very clear vision for what they want to achieve for their people up and down in Tai Rāwhiti. The local businesses also have a clear vision and they know exactly what they want from the Government. They asked for it and we gave it to them, by and large—a $2 million contribution to the most exciting wood processing facility that this country has seen. This is a new industry that uses 21st century techniques to achieve high-quality wood products from low-quality pine trees, at the moment. There is exciting stuff happening in Tai Rāwhiti, and I just wish that we could all get together to celebrate what is happening.

There is huge scope in this part of the world—there is huge scope. We have the greatest resource: the people of the Tai Rāwhiti region. I was pleased to announce just under $2 million in extra support to work with particularly youth—supporting people into long-term sustainable employment, because unemployment is a big issue in Gisborne and Tai Rāwhiti, and there is a huge desire from local businesses to employ local people. So in that package we included a number of initiatives, including a youth employment strategy, not our strategy—supporting one that has been developed by local people for their own youth.

There is a pilot to help rehabilitate young people from drug use, which is a problem in the area, and help them into work. There is truck driver training. There is help to get a driver’s licence, and there is a horticultural sector coordinator. This is something that they particularly asked for. Anyone who knows the Gisborne region knows that it is a very diverse area, and seasonal workers can move from one industry to another. So we are trialling ways to get that sector working together so that people can move from a different industry, or to give them all-year-round work.

I am absolutely delighted that this Government has chosen to work with a number of regions, supporting businesses to grow their capability, to grow their local employment, and we are supporting them to make money for the area. One of the recent decisions was to allow the fantastically scenic rail track from Gisborne to Wairoa to be used for a cycle trail. I think that is a really good use for a rail line that nobody used. [Interruption] Nobody used it. Nobody was prepared to sign on the dotted line to use it, so we are now putting that to good use. This Government supports the regions.

Before I start, I want to, regretfully, criticise this Government on a very serious matter. This week we saw the heinous terrorist bombing in St Petersburg that has so far claimed the lives of 14 innocent people and wounded 50 more. New Zealand First wanted to put in for a debatable motion but held off in the belief that the Government would have put one up, following the recent bombing in London. So New Zealand First wishes to record in Hansard that we are expressing our deepest sympathies with the Russian people, and especially with the victims of this latest Islamic terrorist act that took place in St Petersburg.

The great Prime Minister of Israel Golda Meir once observed that ability hits the mark where presumption overshoots and indifference falls short. Boy, that sums up this Government, being one of all talk and no action. Look at what we have just heard today. Aucklanders can rejoice at light rail to the airport in 2047, when the “Minister for Overblown Announcements”, Simon “10” Bridges, will be 70. I ask the Minister responsible for Novopay, and the failed campaign manager for the Northland by-election in 2015, Steven Joyce: was not the entire Pūhoi to Wellsford motorway meant to be 2 years away from opening by now? By the way, Mr Joyce, you are seven bridges short of your pledge.

How about Minister Barry, Order of New Zealand, who might get her way for a predator-free New Zealand in 2050 if myrtle rust, which is now 1,000 kilometres off Northland, wipes out our mānuka, wipes out our kānuka, pōhutukawa, and rata simply because she and her bumbling Government have done nothing to put in place a contingency plan to deal with it. Then again, she will be 100 by then—probably talking more sense at that stage than she does currently.

What about our Minister of Police, Paula Bennett? Well, surely if ever there was a female version of Inspector Clouseau, she is the classic. Last week she pitched up at Thames with more post-dated promises, only to be countered by those who lived the reality of Labour and National—you know, the Pepsi and Coke of politics—that they are soft on crime and soft on the causes of crime. What better evidence do we have of that than Labour’s pledge to raise the age of criminal responsibility, something National vehemently opposed whilst it was in Opposition, only to see now National ramming that very same legislation through, supported by Labour—the Pepsi and Coke coalition? In fact, look for it. You heard it here first. The grand coalition is almost formed—the grand coalition of National and Labour.

But the thing that is getting us is that the thin blue line, which stretches from Thames, Whitianga, Paeroa, and Coromandel, averaged only 8.3 officers on duty over the Christmas and New Year period. It is a time when burglars, we know, had a 96 percent success rate of burgling homes, cars, and property in that very same region. Minister Bennett’s response was to say: “We’re not using official stats.” Thank you, Minister. We know exactly why you are not using them, and the truth has outed. Crime is on the increase, and indeed crime is currently out of control. If anyone needs any more proof, just go and talk to the Indian shopkeepers who caught the burglar, only to have to be forced into the Government’s catch and release policy of letting the shoplifter go because the police were not going to be there.

I have to raise one more issue. We say, from New Zealand First, sorry to Bani and Hemant Manglani, who were tourists in New Zealand on 25 March, who had their car burgled, their passports and iPhones stolen, and tried to get police for support but were told by the police that they would come only if the offender was still on the property or on the premises. So go back to our shopkeeper who had the offender in custody and the police said: “Oh, we’re too busy. We can’t come.”

This is a Government in total disarray on law and order. This is a Government with Inspector Clouseau-ess in charge of police. The country deserves better, and on 23 September it is going to get it. It will be a New Zealand First - led Government.

We are very, very pleased to stand in support of a great National Government. And, to that previous speaker—well, dreams are free. Good on you. Keep believing it. We have seen some great progress and growth in regional New Zealand. We have seen a renaissance. After years of neglect and sunset industries around agriculture, this Government supports regional New Zealand in a very strong and deliberate way. We invest not just in terms of infrastructure but we are investing into the regions in terms of collaboration and working with not only regional officials but businesses. We are working with iwi leaders. We are working with every regional leader and chief in order to develop strategies and action plans that bring forth great growth.

For example, in Northland there are 58 projects, after a year and a half of that action plan being in place, getting some great achievements, which that member over there on the other side knows nothing about—nothing about. He goes up there for holiday weekends and that is about it. He might be up there on Good Friday but he will be gone on Saturday. He will be down to Auckland, enjoying a bit of stuff down there. He has no idea.

It is good to see that we are not only working in Northland but in Eastern Bay of Plenty—in Gisborne, in Tai Rāwhiti. We are working in Hawke’s Bay. We are working in Taranaki—a great region. Here we are—through this last year we have been knocked back by commodity prices, internationally, that we have no control over, yet we still have the highest GDP per capita in the country. Is that not amazing for a region like Taranaki? Is that not amazing? That you could get kicked in the guts by what is happening overseas and we are still fighting, we are still up, and we are still doing very, very well. It is great to see that Taranaki is a high-performing region with high technology, great workers, great imagination, and great members of Parliament.

Whanganui and Manawatū, what great regions those two regions are—and the work that is happening there, through those action plans. The West Coast of the South Island is another region that has been affected by international commodity prices, yet it has got determination. Why? Because we work with it, we partner with it, we help it, we encourage it, we believe in it, and we get behind it. Southland is another one as well.

All of these regions are seeing a renaissance. They are seeing new energy and new investment. They are seeing growth and they are seeing success come their way. We are seeing very proud New Zealanders in every one of these regions, as they work hard and determine their own success and their pathway forward.

It is great to see business leaders rise up and take hold of opportunity. We can work with them and we can help them as they challenge those, I guess, assumptions that have worked against them for so long. We can see great growth. One of the things we believe is that these regions—particularly the region that I come from, Taranaki—have gone through a time of great, I guess, difficulty with the dairy price and the oil and gas price. The oil and gas price went right down to under $30 a barrel. If you can imagine, back in 2007 and 2008 when it was $140, what a huge difference that is. It is up to $55 a barrel today. I know that in that region those oil and gas companies have made their adjustments, they have, in a sense, been able to fine-tune their operations, and they, with fresh determination, are pressing ahead to bring through that valuable commodity of oil and gas.

The policies from that side of the House will continue to destroy those regions. We know, for example, when it comes to dairying that they want to pull further costs out of, particularly, biological emissions, and that those farmers are going to struggle incredibly in that period of time. This Government is working hard. It is working hard to bring technology to bear to help farmers, and we are seeing fantastic and great gains. I would say that under this National-led Government agriculture, a great mainstay of our economy, and oil and gas, another great stay of our economy—with the application of technology and the application of smart thinking—are going to continue to prosper and see this nation succeed. Thank you.

I raise a point of order, Mr Speaker. I move that that member be given an extension of time—

Order! No, the member will resume his seat. He cannot move on behalf of another member.

Ā, tēnā koe e Te Māngai o Te Whare. Tuatahi māku, ka noho ahau ki roto i Te Reo Māori. Ka tangi apakura tēnei ki tōku whaea. Kua tau te kapua pōuri ki runga i Te Whare o Te Kīngitanga, ki tōku whaea ki a Tōmairangi Paki kua ngaro atu ki Te Pō. E tangi ana tēnei ki a koe, otirā, ki a koutou. Ka tāpae atu ko te matenga o tōku tupuna a Pā Hēnare Tate, ka ngaro atu i te rua kōiwi o ngā mātua, o ngā tupuna i te rā nei. Nā, ka tāpae atu ko taku tupuna a Lou Tana i ngaro atu i te ata nei ki roto i a au ō Ngāti Hine—koutou o Te Pō, haere, haere! Ka whakahokia mai ngā rārangi kōrero me ngā kaupapa o te wā ki tēnei Whare ō tātou, tēnā koutou katoa.

[And so my thanks to you, Mr Speaker. The first thing for me is to remain speaking in the Māori language. I mourn keenly for my auntie. The cloud of darkness has descended upon the house of the Kīngitanga; Aunt Tōmairangi Paki has gone to the void. I grieve for you and, indeed, for you collectively. I add the death to that of my ancestor Pā Hēnare Tate, who is being buried today. Lou Tana, a grandparent of mine, lost from within me, of Ngāti Hine, this morning—you collectively of the void, depart, farewell, go forth! And so I bring the focus of my contribution and relevant matters of the moment back to this House of ours; I commend you all.]

Just first of all, I wanted to pay my respects to some of the losses endured by Māoridom in the past few days. I farewell those who have departed, and now I come back to some of the losses Māoridom has suffered in the world of the living. I am actually referring to the Resource Legislation Amendment Bill, which was debated strongly last night, with a lot of passion, around particular parts. Those are parts carved out by the Māori Party.

One of those, in particular, is about Mana Whakahono ā Rohe—it was a bit of a mouthful for a few of the members to say last night. Mana Whakahono ā Rohe—trying to declare a space for Māori involvement and Māori participation in the new proposed resource management legislation. Yet, upon further inspection, after we had pulled the words apart and looked deeper into the meanings of the clauses in that particular bill, we found then that, actually, it has not done much at all. Actually what it does do, for most parts, is isolate and, in fact, exclude some tribal authorities: (1) those who do not have the resources to be able to engage with local authorities to organise Mana Whakahono ā Rohe, and also (2) other recognised tribal authorities. In that respect I am talking about urban Māori—urban Māori. They are recognised as a tribal authority.

In fact, the census data tells us that urban Māori are one of the largest tribes in New Zealand—behind Ngāpuhi, who, funnily enough, were not included in much of the debate and conversation from the Māori Party and from the National Government in the debate on the bill last night. That is a big concern (1) because I represent urban Māori in Tāmaki Makaurau, and (2) because I am of Ngāpuhi descent—the largest tribe in this country. The Māori Party has claimed to carve out these rights for Māori. First of all is Mana Whakahono ā Rohe. The second one is around GM—genetically modified crops.

The word “crops”, it is an interesting one. To advise my debate, my contribution today, I read Wai 262, a claim taken to the Waitangi Tribunal a number of years ago. Actually, the recommendations from Wai 262 have not yet been addressed by this Government. The Māori Party is carving out a space here for the exclusion of genetically modified crops, yet has not properly defined what that means. If it had only looked at Wai 262 and used the technical mātauranga Māori that you will find in Wai 262, I think it may have changed the words in that particular part.

I think about the Resource Legislation Amendment Bill and I think: what are the concessions? What are the actual concessions that the Māori Party is getting for our people? I need only look over some of the statistics to point some of those out. The Māori unemployment rate is twice the national average. A $1 billion prison, forecast by this Government, for our people. Why? Because we know Māori make up large numbers of the prison population. What else is there? Cuts to the health system, of which I am sure the Hon Annette King knows a lot more about than I do. What else have we seen? Plummeting Māori homeownership rates. These are all important factors that I think actually measure the success of Māori in today’s world—important factors that tell us whether or not we are actually succeeding. It is not just about the money that you might secure for something—it is what it means on the ground.

In closing my contribution, I am reminded of a saying my grandfather used to say. He used to say: “Ki te tara o tetahi me te poaka, ka hari te poaka ka paru koe.”

[“If you roll around with the pig, the pig will be happy and you will be dirty.”]

“Son, there are only two things that will come about by rolling around with a pig: the pig will be happy and you will end up dirty.”

It is great to rise in this debate, and I am going to take my lead from the Green Party member James Shaw. That may seem a little strange here this afternoon, but, you know, that member actually talked about “great”, so I am going to talk about “great”. I am going to talk about some of the great things that are happening in our regions. Of course, I am very parochial about Canterbury. I am a Highlanders supporter, but Canterbury is great because that is where I live and it is Canterbury’s economy that is absolutely vital to New Zealand’s economy. So I do want to talk about Canterbury’s economy today.

If we take the figures to the end of March 2016—that is the GDP figures—Canterbury is right up there, with 31.9 percent growth across the period of 5 years 2011-16. That compares with New Zealand at 23.8 percent across that same period. Of course, we know that a number of things have been happening in Canterbury—some good, some bad—and people may think it is just about construction in Canterbury, in terms of that growth. But drilling down, literally, into what is creating that growth, it is actually more than that. It is professional, scientific, technical services, it is transport, it is manufacturing, and it is definitely agriculture but it is also postal services. That was one that interested me, because that was perhaps not something that would have jumped on to my radar.

In Canterbury we also know that if we look at the ANZ research job ads, across that period of time—the last 18 months—the number of job ads in Canterbury has oscillated at around the 5,500 mark and it was a little more at the beginning of that period. That tells you that things are pretty hot in Canterbury. That particular GDP growth is, of course, around growth, and as long as the region continues to grow like that, we know it will continue to be very much a big part of the engine room of the economy.

But there is more great news. You know, New Zealanders are pretty interested in knowing that more houses are being built. We know that across the country the annual consents have doubled and they have almost tripled in Auckland, and that should provide some reassurance to New Zealanders.

As well as that, we are actually back in surplus. I can tell you that for New Zealanders reflecting back on the last few years since the global financial crisis, that has been a tough ask, but this National-led Government has delivered on that, with a surplus of $1.8 billion last year. What that means is that we can start to pay down debt, which is really, really important, and then, after getting debt to around 20 percent of GDP, we will be returning an amount to the New Zealand Superannuation Fund as well—starting up the contributions again.

To finish, I want to talk in specific terms about one great news story close to home for me. This is quite topical this week, really—it is about pizza, but it is about the mozzarella cheese that goes on pizza. I want to talk about technology that was developed by the Fonterra Research and Development Centre. It is supported by the Transforming the Dairy Value Chain, which is a Primary Growth Partnership. Of course, Primary Growth Partnership—that is the Ministry for Primary Industries, it is Fonterra, and it is Dairy New Zealand. What this technology does—and it is a tightly kept secret, of course—is it actually produces mozzarella. It is called individually quick-frozen mozzarella, and it used to take 3 months. Now it happens in 6 hours, and that is why we have some great contracts with the rest of the world to supply that stretchy cheese to them.

In fact, that will contribute to what Fonterra is heading towards by 2023. Food service—that is, mozzarella cheese being part of it—is a $5 billion part of that particular sector. But it is more, when I think about what is happening locally. This actually means 1,000 people are in jobs, building the $240 million - plus mozzarella plant at Clandeboye. It is already a big plant, but this will be the largest mozzarella plant in the Southern Hemisphere.

In addition to that, we are talking about 133 new jobs. Some of those jobs are really technical; some of them are entry-level. Some of them will be people coming out of the polytech system and some of them will be young people coming out of schools, and Fonterra is actively recruiting from around the country as well. That means a huge boost for our part of the region. This is why we as a Government are able to say there are some great things happening. There is more to do, but some really great things are happening in my region.

Tēnā koe, Mr Speaker. I am pleased to make a contribution in this general debate, and I want to follow on from my whanaunga Peeni Henare, because there is news just in. I understand the Māori Party is renaming itself. It is going to be rebranded as the “Māori Elite Party”. Yes, those members are going to be the members for the new Māori bourgeoisie. To be a member of the “Māori Elite Party”, you have to earn a minimum of $100,000, you have to be an iwi leader, it does require Koru Club membership, and you have to be ready to be appointed to Minister Flavell’s special appointment committees to be able to enjoy the benefits of that bourgeoisie class.

So that is what the Māori Party members are. They are the “Māori Elite Party”. They do not stand for ordinary, hard-working battlers of the Māori whānau whānui out there. I am talking about the whānau in Kawerau, the whānau in Murupara, the whānau in Ōhai, which is a lovely little place in the electorate of Mr—over there. We know where it is—down in Southland, Murihiku. Todd—Todd Barclay. That is it.

Those members are so far disconnected from the real, hard-working, aspirational Māori whānau out there. It is a real travesty that they have, for the past 8 years now, been propping up this National Government. What have they achieved under this Government for Māori in those 8 years? Well, as Peeni touched on, it is lower incomes. It is shocking that the gap in the weekly earnings between Māori and Pākehā since 2008 has grown by 47 percent.

💬 Sue Moroney: What?

47 percent. Remember that number. That is a huge gap, just in the space of time of this Government. We know that more Māori are out of work. We know that more Māori are locked up in prisons. We know that the life expectancy of Māori is a lot lower than for the general population. All of those measures have not improved. They have gotten worse under this Government, propped up by the “Māori Elite Party”.

What better example of pandering to the bourgeoisie, this new, elite class of Māori, is there than what the Māori Party has achieved with this Resource Management Act (RMA) amendment. Can I give an example. We have been debating the new Mana Whakahono ā Rohe, as referred to by Peeni, and if you actually really break it down, it is nothing new. There were always iwi participation agreements in the RMA. There is an abundance of these participation agreements entered into right around the country, so what have those members done with this elaborate Mana Whakahono ā Rohe? They have not really added much at all, but, boy, have they ever created such a wordy process around how iwi have to invite local authorities to “Come and join us in our mana whakahono.”, and then it is up to the local authorities to decide: “Do we want to hold a hui or a meeting to discuss this mana whakahono?”.

It is so overly prescriptive. I mean, is this what the technical advisers of the iwi leaders have come up with: a hugely prescriptive process that really achieves absolutely nothing. Look, if you are talking about huis and meetings, it fails to address the real issue—which we do support—about increasing Māori input and participation in the resource management processes.

But I do want to get back to the point, because while the “Māori Elite Party” is focusing on whether a local authority is going to hold a hui or a meeting to discuss its entry into a mana whakahono, we here on this side are focused on the real issues. The issues around jobs, the issues around incomes, the issues around housing and the plummeting housing ownership for Māori, the issues around the well-being of our whānau and the health of our tamariki, the issues around the huge increase in Child, Youth and Family care of our tamariki—those are the issues. Those are the big things that we are focusing on. Unfortunately, to its detriment, the “Māori Elite Party” has been propping up National for too long, and I am sure that it is going to be toast.

It is a pleasure to pick up on a point just raised by the previous speaker, Rino Tirikatene, about battlers. I thought it was a bit rich for the Opposition to be talking about the Māori Party not supporting battlers in the Māori community when the real battlers are sitting right over there, on the other side of the House.

I want to acknowledge the Māori Party, and Te Ururoa Flavell in particular for the work that he does in his economic development roles right across the country, actually—even right down in Southland, in the role that he has played as part of the Southland Regional Development Strategy, alongside the Minister for Economic Development, Simon Bridges, and the former Minister for Economic Development, Steven Joyce. I think we have hit rock bottom when the Opposition members spend their whole time shuffling around talking about the criticisms they have of the Māori Party and other support parties of the Government and offer no solutions themselves about what they would do. On this side of the House, we are talking about the positive growth attributes of each of our regions, as a direct and indirect result of Government assistance. But not just monetary handouts, which the Labour Party seems to think are the answer to these issues facing aspects of regional New Zealand; it is actually what the Government is doing to help communities help themselves.

One particular initiative that I want to spend a bit of time talking about today is the Southland Regional Development Strategy, which was one of the major regional growth plans that was announced by Steven Joyce at the end of last year—and Te Ururoa Flavell and Nathan Guy. What they were talking about was actually the contribution that the region of Southland has done itself to try to look at what we do well, what we could do better, what our opportunities into the future are to diversify our economy, and what role the Government can play. So, quite uniquely, a bunch of about 90 Southland business people got together and developed nine streams of priorities for what Southland’s growth priorities should look like over the next decade.

The overarching goal is to grow our population by 10,000, and to diversify and strengthen our already existing regional development initiatives. What the Government did was come along and say: “This is fantastic. You guys are doing a really good job. How can we help? Is there anything we can do to assist you?”. The business people of Southland said: “Yep, that would be fantastic. We’ve got a couple of key areas where we can’t do it ourselves and we need Government assistance.” The first is around aquaculture. So the Government has put in about $900,000 over the next couple of years to assist with the research and development of the aquaculture prospects in the southern part of the South Island, and that is absolutely fantastic. Sarah Dowie, the MP for Invercargill, has played a strong role in advocating for that and she is doing a fine role in continuing to drive that project as well.

The second is how we can strengthen our growing tourism industry. What the Government has done there is put in about $500,000—$250,000 of which has gone into supporting the Milford Opportunities Project, which is a project that I established, alongside the Southland District Council and the Department of Conservation, to look at how we can make tourism growth into Milford Sound more sustainable. Last year there were 600,000 visitors into Milford Sound, 95 buses a day on average, not to mention the hundreds if not thousands of free and independent travellers going in and out of Milford, to visit the picturesque scenery there. How can we keep that picturesque scenery the way it is for future generations to come and future generations of visitors? So there is a lot of work going on to preserve that and to manage the sustainable growth into Milford Sound.

The third area—and I want to acknowledge Penny Simmonds, who is the chief executive officer of the Southern Institute of Technology—is how we can continue to grow our international education. Southern Institute of Technology is quite unique in the respect that the average age of its students is much older than many of our other international student providers across the country: usually in their late 20s or early 30s. The unique characteristic is that they do not just come themselves to stay; they usually bring a partner, who has opportunities of employment in the district, and also children, who are supporting the roll growth in our schools.

So a couple of those attributes that the Government has decided to focus on, in supporting Southland to grow and develop, as part of its growth study, are going to pay off and are going to have strong dividends. It is down to the vision and the tenacity and the perseverance of a large number of Southland business people and the support of this Government. So thank you very much.

Imagine if this Chamber was on fire. Would we sit around and debate what to do? Would we argue and vote on whether it was important or whether it was happening at all? What would we do if petrol was being poured on it, making it worse? I ask these questions because they relate to a little story I want to tell.

On 28 August 1859 George Bissell and Edwin Drake took a gamble. It was a gamble that would pay off financially for them and for many others, but who would have guessed it at the time that it could risk the survival of our species? These two men were looking for an alternative to whale oil. Facing financial problems, experimental technology, and even fire, they eventually managed to build the world’s first oil rig. On that day the oil age began and it changed the world. It quite literally changed the world. There was so much oil that it is even changing our atmosphere. One hundred and fifty years on, scientists say we cannot afford to burn 70 to 90 percent of all the oil we have discovered if we want to avoid a runaway catastrophe.

The science is clear, but for polluters it is an inconvenient truth. These polluters have persuaded politicians to spend public money for private profit. You can see it in Trump’s America and you can see it in National’s New Zealand. It is like a fire in a crowded cinema and, instead of yelling out “Fire!”, someone locks the door and disputes whether there is a fire at all, or what should be done about it. That would be murder and what some politicians are doing is being accomplices to planetary homicide. In this House we have 121 seats. That is twice as many politicians as Māui’s dolphins, yet National is opening up the Māui’s dolphin sanctuary for the last 63 for oil drilling. These 63 are battling extinction, threatened by fishing nets. They do not need any more risks. It is just one example of how National is the pro-pollution party.

You just have to look at the facts. They gift the oil industry $46 million a year in tax breaks and subsidies. They will give them another $800 million to help them decommission their oil rigs. They spent $240,000 wining and dining 11—11—oil executives for a couple of days. This year they announced an oil block the size of the land of the country of Papua New Guinea. They have opened up a full third of the Māui’s dolphin sanctuary and turned it into an oil block and allowed oil drilling to the shores of Lake Te Ānau. For what? We have seen a succession of oil companies leave New Zealand, and those who choose to stay pay the fourth-lowest tax plus royalty rates in the world. National has given up on the last of the Māui’s dolphins and they are supporting the last industry we should be supporting. It is like investing in tobacco farms or nuclear weapons factories.

History will be the judge, but the Greens know which side we stand on. We will stop deep-sea oil drilling and we will focus on clean energy. The Stone Age did not end for want of stones. It ended because we had something better, and the oil age will end for the same reason. The good news in New Zealand is that we have a wealth of clean energy and the energy of hundreds of thousands of caring Kiwis to change it. There is a growing movement across this country to stop those who would fan the flames of climate change. Right this very second, brave New Zealanders are out on the sea off the coast of the North Island aboard the Taitu and the waka Te Matau-ā-Māui to oppose the beast—a massive seismic survey vessel. Last month Kiwis risked arrest at the petroleum conference. Last year we saw our Churches, our councils, and our universities vote with their feet and their wallets to say no to oil.

We do not need Bissell and Drake’s oil rigs any more. We are seeing a movement. This is our generation’s nuclear-free moment. We have got a wealth of clean energy. No other nation is so well endowed with so many resources. It is crazy—we have got such a head start into the 21st century but National is trying to drag us back. We could be the country with wind turbines in our hills, and quiet, cheap electric vehicles. We could be the place, like nuclear-free New Zealand again, the world looks to for inspiration. But some want to stay in the past for profit and some want to stay in the past for lack of vision. We cannot let them win.

I have got a petition calling on the Government to stop its support for the exploration of oil drilling. If you want to support our fragile atmosphere, if you care about our last Māui’s dolphins, and if you want to protect Lake Te Ānau and our environment, sign your signature and add your name to the right side of history. Kia ora.

Well, I will not go into any of that, but I do want to start by—I was going to say “Welcome to the rainy Rangitīkei.”, because we must be very quickly becoming the wettest electorate in New Zealand. We do have the most sheep, but we are now becoming the wettest. Just before I do get on to what I really want to talk about, I think it is worth mentioning the fact that whilst the Rangitīkei and Whanganui districts have declared states of emergency, I have spoken to my local mayor recently and things are not as bad as the emergency initially looked. But, none the less, there is flooding right throughout New Zealand—or right through the North Island—which is quite unusual when you think of the history of our floods and emergency situations. They do not often spread right across the North Island.

💬 Tim Macindoe: We are quite a pluvial nation.

We are—exactly, Tim—quite a pluvial nation. Things are not as bad as they may have been in Rangitīkei; none the less, for some farmers it will be challenging.

Rangitīkei is the heart of the Horizons Regional Council, and the Horizons Regional Council, on the current statistics, is running at about No. 6 in New Zealand for growth. We had GDP growth of over 3 percent, and, interestingly, that GDP growth is not related to agriculture; it is related to a much broader sector than that. I think that is one of the really encouraging things about rural New Zealand in recent years—that we have diversified our economy significantly, as have many other parts of New Zealand. Whilst agriculture is a hugely important part of that economy, it is not the critical part of it that it perhaps was, earlier in our history.

In the Manawatū-Whanganui area—or the Horizons region, of course, as Minister Bridges alluded to earlier—we have a new economic development strategy, and we have got an action plan to boost the regional economy. Interestingly, one of those plans in the Manawatū-Whanganui area, particularly the Whanganui area, involves the very strong input of our Māori community. Listening to the discussion yesterday during the course of the Resource Management Act reforms, I thought it was extremely disturbing that, as a nation, we have not grown beyond the sort of petty behaviour that was going on in the Chamber yesterday. I think that Rangitīkei particularly, and many other parts of New Zealand, will benefit hugely not only from the changes to the Resource Management Act but from the input of our Māori community and the benefits that the Treaty settlement process is bringing to them. It is hugely important, particularly for the Whanganui-Ruapehu part of my electorate, and quite exciting for the future.

I also want to briefly mention the Ruapehu district, which is heavily invested in tourism and is, in fact, the home of the Tongariro Alpine Crossing, two national parks, and numerous cycleways and walkways. The Tongariro Alpine Crossing, of course—some 125,000 people walk that every year. It has probably reached saturation point, I would have thought, and there are clearly some infrastructural challenges around that sort of thing, so we need to move on that very quickly. The Government is certainly helping those regions that are heavily tourist-bound, I guess, to make such a big difference. So that is very encouraging.

💬 Hon Maggie Barry: We’re hearing you, Ian. We’re listening.

Just while the Minister for Arts, Culture and Heritage is talking—of course, the Tangiwai Memorial, which has its anniversary in about a week or two’s time, is being upgraded currently. Of course, for those people who do not realise, Tangiwai—right in the centre of my electorate—was the biggest disaster in New Zealand history at the time, and is still one of the most significant disasters in New Zealand’s history. Of course, the Whangaehu River, which the Tangiwai bridge crossed—and still does cross, or a new one does—is one of those rivers that is creating a fair bit of grief at the moment, in the lower reaches.

I think our regional development strategy is doing extremely well. It is doing a great job in my electorate. One of the other really strong parts of the Rangitīkei electorate—and the New Zealand economy, of course—is the activity of our defence forces. In fact, I have Waiōuru—well, I do not; the Rangitīkei electorate has the Waiōuru, Ōhākea, and Linton camps, all in that area. The potential for the Singaporean agreement to come off is huge for my part of the world, and it would be very exciting if there was ever agreement reached with them over Ōhākea. I think that is very exciting for us as well.

So we are growing in almost every sector, particularly in the defence sector. The education sector is very strong in the electorate, of course—and I have Massey University there. We have the construction sector, with housing going well. All in all, it is a pretty good performance. Thank you.

The debate having concluded, the motion lapsed.